New🇭🇷Split, Croatia
The Pašticada Pilgrimage
Beef larded with garlic and bacon, marinated overnight in wine vinegar, then braised for hours in a dark, sweet-sour sauce of red wine, prunes and root vegetables. Dalmatia's greatest dish, eaten inside the walls of a Roman emperor's palace.
Why this dish?
Pašticada is the crown jewel of Dalmatian cooking and Croatia's most revered dish: a piece of beef is studded with strips of garlic and bacon (larded), marinated overnight in wine vinegar, then braised slowly - for hours - in a sauce of red wine, onions, carrots, celery, prunes, sometimes a little dark chocolate and nutmeg, until the meat is tender enough to cut with a spoon and the sauce has reduced to something dark, rich and sweet-sour. Served with handmade njoki (gnocchi), it's a dish for celebrations, family Sundays and the kind of special occasion that merits a flight.
Split is where to eat it: Diocletian's Palace, a vast Roman ruin turned living city, with restaurants and bars tucked into ancient arches, laundry strung between columns, and the Adriatic glittering at the edge. A plate of pašticada inside the palace walls, with a glass of local Plavac Mali, is one of the most atmospheric lunches in Europe.
Our Picks
Konoba Matejuška
- Address
- Tomića stine 3, Split
- What to order
- Pašticada with njoki (homemade gnocchi), and a glass of Dalmatian red (Plavac Mali or Dingač).
- Book ahead
- Small and very popular - book ahead, especially in season.
- Pro tip
- The sauce is the whole achievement; mop it with bread once the gnocchi is gone.
Konoba Varoš
Ban Mladenova 7, Split
A beloved neighbourhood konoba in the Varoš quarter, slightly uphill from the palace - the kind of place where locals eat on Sundays.
- What to order
- Pašticada or the mixed grill; traditional, generous Dalmatian cooking.
Good to know
Pašticada takes hours to prepare and is often a limited daily offering - check it's available or order ahead. The sauce's sweetness (prunes, sometimes chocolate) is intentional and traditional. A konoba is a Dalmatian tavern - the right kind of place for this dish. Split's old town is inside the actual walls of Diocletian's Palace; the airport bus reaches the centre in about 30 minutes. The Riva waterfront promenade is the evening ritual.
Your day plan
Wheels up to eating the dish.
Outbound Flight goals - what you're aiming for
- 06:30Depart London Gatwick
- 10:55Land Split
- 11:30Bus into the centre (30 min)
- 12:00Walk through Diocletian's Palace - the peristyle, the cellars, the narrow streets
- 13:00Pašticada lunch at Konoba Matejuška
- 14:30The Riva promenade, the waterfront, a swim if it's warm
- 16:00Coffee on the Riva, or a glass of wine in a palace-wall bar
